Kindergarten teacher Morgan Joiner had no idea she was about to receive an honor Friday afternoon at Newton County Elementary School.
The student body and staff were called into the gymnasium to kick off a fundraiser for the school, but just before they announced the fundraiser, she received a special surprise.
Representatives from the Golden Apple Award presented her with the award and a $1,000 grant to use in her classroom.
She had no idea that she would win the award, much less was she aware that she had been nominated.
“It’s an amazing accomplishment and a huge honor,” Joiner said. “I think it will help us provide other possible resources and collaboration with other teachers who have received this award.”
This is the third time that a teacher at Newton County Elementary School has received a Golden Apple Award, according to Deanna Smith, dean of students at Meridian Community College.
“That means you have some really good teachers that really care about you and want you to learn as much as you can to be as smart as you can to be able to be whatever you want to be when you grow up,” Smith told the students.
Terry Dale Cruse, president of Mississippi State University-Meridian, read from the letters that were submitted to nominate Joiner.
“’This teacher is exactly the type of teacher every parent prays their child will have. She has the perfect balance of compassion and discipline. She has great communication with parents and keeps an open line of contact. She loves all of her students and pushes them to reach their maximum potential.’” Cruse said. “You know what that means. It means she pushes them to be the very best that they can be.”
Cruse quoted another parent, “My child comes home from school every day talking about the different fun activities they do in class from an obstacle course for the letter ‘O’ to doing an army crawl under the under the table while reading sight words and reviewing other skills. She truly makes learning so fun, and most of the time the students don’t even realize how much they’re learning and working.”
Joiner said it is a huge honor to receive the award.
“It’s a goal for educators to be recognized for the hard work that they do, day in and day out,” Joiner said. “It’s such an amazing accomplishment to be honored with the other teachers that have received this award. It’s overwhelming.”
For Joiner, she never considered another career path.
“I’ve known since an early age that I always wanted to be a teacher,” Joiner said. “There’s been no other thing that I’ve wanted to be.”
